morgan1819

Car has new V-rated tires, with 33 psi in each tire.

- There is not a definitive pull to one side. Maybe slightly to the right, when driving on a cambered two lane road, or if in the right lane on highway. Very slightly to the left, if in the (left) passing lane on the highway.

- The real issue is constantly having to steer at highway speeds. It's difficult to describe, but feels as if a light wind change easily moves the car off center, so then you correct back, and then end up correcting again. Acts the same in sport mode or regular mode.

Our other 2 vehicles are a 2016 Highlander, and a 2014 Acura TLX. They both track perfectly straight, and don't 'seem' affected at all by the wind, compared to the ES.

Anyone else had this? Could it be a toe-in, or camber issue?

Yibo829

Did you get an alignment after getting new tires?

morgan1819

We purchased the car pre-owned, and it came with the tires already installed. They appear extremely new. Tread depth is 10/32 all around.

I doubt they did an alignment after installing the tires. No alignments showed on CarFax report.

Yibo829

Get an alignment. Convince the dealer to give you one at no charge. Sometimes they'll do it.

morgan1819

Dealers around here charge for everything. That is why I'm hoping to gain a little information on this board before I pay full price for an alignment ... which the car may, or may not need. Like I said, it doesn't pull hard one way or the other. Anyone taking a short test drive around town would be convinced it didn't need an alignment. However, get it on the highway, and you are constantly steering in both directions.

Yibo829

I'm pretty sure it's an alignment issue. I have a 2016 ES and I had the wandering issue too and it also has a tendency to drift to the right. I had one dealer align it twice and finally another dealer managed to get it right by making both the front and back tires toe in. Now the car does not drift on the highway and tracks straight. You don't have to go to the dealer for the alignment you can go anywhere for an alignment. Or you can go to the Toyota dealer for an alignment because they usually charge less than the Lexus dealer. Also what kind of tire do you have now? Brand and model.

morgan1819

Good info ... thanks.

The tires are Atlas Land Sport. 215/55/17 94 V rated.

I have a Toyota dealer that is local, so I may call them and see if they have tweaked the alignment on some newer Avalon's to fix the wandering issue.

I'm guessing you had them go with just the slightest toe-in possible ... like -.01 on all four?

PAcommuter

I recently put new tires on my 13 ES and went to BIg O, they charged an additonal $150 to align. Hey, all in huh? I got Michelin Primacy tires on mine.

JimHand00

I heard a service advisor at Lexus of Austin tell another customer that the dealer alignment also involves some type of calibration related to the lane assist camera. I think he also recommended his customer get an alignment about once a year, but I might be mistaken.

UKEE

I have a 2016 and I've noticed the lane wandering also. Seems that I constantly have to move the wheel ever so slightly to get it back in lane and then have to go opposite. I never dreamed that the car could be out of alignment as it's done it since right after I got it (or at least I noticed it then). My 1 year service is coming up so I will probably mention it to the dealer. I might take it on a highway drive to make sure it's still doing it.

Very strange, especially the thoughts of a new Lexus being out of alignment. My 14+ year old Dodge Intrepid still tracks straight and doesn't need the constant shifting of the wheel to keep it in lane like the Lexus does. Like the OP states, seems like it's wind blowing it off the road. I've looked at the surrounding trees several times to see if it were windy when I was feeling this from the car.

morgan1819

Glad it's not just me. I hope that it truly is an alignment issue, because highway travel with this car is not enjoyable at all. The main reason we bought it was for comfort, and good fuel mileage on longer highway road trips. As of now, I easily prefer to drive the Highlander, as it is much more stable and doesn't require constant steering input/correction when cruising on the highway.

I'm really surprised that your 2016 would be out of alignment, and have the exact issue my 2014 has. Like I said before, I certainly doesn't feel like it's an alignment issue when I am driving around town at 35-55 mph.

TechNut

I have a friend that works for an alignment shop and he sees many new cars come in. Sometimes it's a result of rough handling on the car haulers. Or it could be a bad pothole or impact with a curb. You just never know but age isn't necessarily a factor.

norakat

I also have a 2016 ES (350).. I think the reason for this is that the steering for this car is set where you have to turn it too much to steer the car. So like if you are making a left or right turn, you have to turn it too much, more than most cars, to make the same turn. So even a minor correction on the highway, due to say a slight sloping of the road turns out to be a significant movement of the hand, where you find yourself moving it pretty far left and right to keep it going straight. I did not like this about the car and consider it one of its weak points. A little too much steering resolution on this car which is unnecessary imo.

Universe93

Finally, someone posted about this - I meant to do it earlier. It's not just you. And the last post above me about the steering wheel movements I've noticed as well. It's really a big weak point with the ES. I've noticed this from the beginning with my car, and just tried to look over it since there are so many other positives of this car. I have gotten alignments often and also drive on very smooth roads.

The 2000 Acura TL I drove before this car had great steering and I hardly ever would have to correct it and it would be a natural feeling to know how much to turn on highway curves. Same with an Audi A4 I recently drove.

It's too bad the ES steering feels like this.

morgan1819

House,

Seems to be more than just a few of us dealing with this. If someone can confirm that getting an alignment ( and getting a slight -.01 toe in on all 4 wheels) actually fixes the highway wander issue, than I will get it done.

But I have a feeling that even with the alignment, it's going to do the same thing. I've always been led to believe an alignment was necessary when a vehicle pulled distinctly to one side, and/or had uneven tire wear. Neither are the case for my car. It moves left or right, depending on where the car is relative to the camber of the road. And most noticeably on the highway, requires constant steering, almost as if a slight wind direction change forces the car to the other side of the lane. It's almost disconcerting at times, especially on a windy day.

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